When The Jaguar Sleeps: A jungle adventure by J.A. Kalis

and then flowed into a small natural pool at the foot of a rocky cliff. Sunbeams were playing merrily on the pool’s slightly crinkled surface, making it glitter brightly in constantly changing shades of silver, gold and copper. As they came closer, the spray of water droplets settled on their skin like a gentle dew.
    ‘Let’s stop here for a short rest,’ Didier suggested.
    Florent eagerly agreed. Without hesitation they threw their backpacks on the ground, quickly pulled off their sweaty clothes and jumped into the water. It was crystal clear and delightfully cool, refreshing their bodies and soothing their inflamed skin and sore muscles.
    Since a meagre breakfast consisting of a few bananas they’d had nothing to eat. It was now late afternoon. They started to feel a desperate need to fill their empty stomachs with food.
    So they put on some fresh clothes and decided to look around for something to eat.
    Left of the pond a rapid stream flowed away, entering a narrow steep-walled gorge.
    ‘Perhaps we could try to catch some fish,’ Didier suggested.
    ‘How? Just like that with our bare hands? And what about piranhas?’
    ‘Don’t worry, apparently they are only likely to attack when they sense blood.’
    In the clear, shallow water of the stream fish could easily be seen: they were swimming around by the dozen. Didier cut a straight, thin branch, removed any leaves and sharpened one end. Then he placed himself steadily on some stones, stared into the rapidly flowing water beneath his feet and in one swift movement thrust in the pointed stick. To begin with he had no luck. Undeterred, he persisted until at last he saw a fish wriggling at the end of the stick. After the first success came quickly next ones.
    ‘Wait, I want to try it as well,’ Florent said eagerly.
    He stood next to Didier and imitated his movements. His fifth thrust proved successful.
    ‘This is really brilliant. You are a genius. You’ve found such a simple way of catching fish. I would have never thought of it myself.’
    Soon they had a lot of fish, all sorts. They were not sure but thought one of them might be a piranha. Didier gathered some dry twigs and kindled a fire. Then he pierced each fish with a stick and grilled it by turning it slowly over the flames.
    Straightaway a pleasant aromatic smell of roasted meat assailed their nostrils.
    ‘Do you think any of them are poisonous? Maybe they belong to some inedible species?’ Florent expressed his doubts.
    ‘Stop complaining! Frankly, we have not got much choice. All the fruits here around grow too high to be reached. Do you prefer ants, or some other bug?’
    Florent was so hungry that he didn’t argue anymore and started to bite off large mouthfuls of white, delicate meat and swallow it greedily. As their stomachs started to fill with food, they felt better and their optimism returned.
    ‘Oh, it tastes fantastic,’ said Florent ‘Actually, I’ve never eaten before such fresh fish, cooked right after being caught.’
    ‘I was so hungry that I would have eaten pretty much anything.’
    ‘Even the bugs? You know, I have had enough of walking for today. Let’s build a hut here and stay for the night,’ Florent suggested.
    ‘There are still a few hours left till evening. What are we going to do here all this time? Isn’t it better to keep on going and not waste time?’
    ‘Well, it’s easy for you to say that, but I feel completely worn out.’
    ‘Pull yourself together,’ said Didier. ‘We don’t know how long we’ll have to walk before we run into another living being, nor when we’ll find something to eat again. We could have to wade through this hellish tropical maze for weeks on end. I definitely don’t want that. I want to get out of this damn rainforest as soon as possible.’
    He did not need to use any more arguments. Florent stood up and, though a bit reluctant, put his rucksack on his back.
    ‘I’ll give you the machete and you walk ahead and cut a path,’